Two-Channel Speakers Zu Audio Druid Mk 4/08 Speakers
|
Zu Audio Druid Mk 4/08 Speakers A Secrets Speaker Review |
|
| Written by Chris Groppi | |
| Thursday, 02 October 2008 | |
|
Page 5 of 5
Conclusions About the Zu Audio Druid Speakers If you don’t crave that bottom octave, I can’t think of a better way to spend $3400 on a full range loudspeaker. Your money buys you a spectacularly well-finished loudspeaker made entirely in the USA, with custom, in-house manufactured drivers. The realism of the musical event these speakers can deliver is unmatched by anything I have ever heard, and that can be directly connected to the very high sensitivity and dynamic range of the Druids. As we all well know, bass is expensive. Zu will happily sell you a speaker that delivers that last octave without sacrificing any of the Druid’s magic, but the price of admission is more than double that of the Druid. In the end, I liked my Gallos wider soundstage and low range extension and power too much to give them up. Now maybe if Zu offers a pair of Presence or Definitions to review ($8000 and $11000 respectively), things might be different. However, this is a decision mainly based on my love of electronica. If my musical tastes did not include this genre, I guarantee my decision would have been different. Comments (6)
 Comparisons Are Good
written by Mark Wieman , October 02, 2008 Thanks for the straightforward and informative review. I was wondering about the bottom octave of the Druids, and it is great to hear how it compared to that of the Gallos (a speaker I have auditioned several times). Kudos on making the comparison. Mark Wieman www.dailyaudiophile.com 101 dB sens, 12 ohm imp. and bass to 35 Hz?
written by 27ph , October 03, 2008 Must be -20 dB or something. ?!?
written by dicey , October 03, 2008 "Absolute calibration was done with a Radio Shack SPL meter." Uhhh, you do know that the RS meters become very inaccurate below 100Hz and above 1KHz, right? Check out the 6-07 issue of AudioXpress for more info. Absolute calibration means something different from what you think...
written by CG , October 03, 2008 The absolute level was set at 1 kHz frequency to 100 dB at a distance of 1 foot. That sets the zero point of the y-axis, nothing more. The response from frequency to frequency was set via the cal file for the Earthworks microphone. And yes, you actually get 12 ohms impedance (actually more like 16) 101 dB/W/m sensitivity and extension to 35 Hz, only a few dB down in my room. Look at the measurements. They do it. "Absolute" Calibration
written by Josuah , October 04, 2008 Absolute calibration was done using the Radio Shack meter. I took this to mean figuring out what volume to set. The actual frequency measurements were done using the other mic and calibration file. Measurements
written by Tyler , October 07, 2008 Actually, your measurements match up pretty well to the measurements done in the NRC anechoic chamber -- http://www.soundstagemagazine....le_druid/. Room effects are relatively minor at 1m. As can be seen from the impedance measurements and your own comments about the cabinet, there is a massive cabinet resonance at ~160 Hz. This is poor cabinet design no matter how you slice it, especially given that it doesn't look like the speaker design has changed in 6 years. Your review is very good in terms of stating what aspects of speaker design appeal more to you than others. Obviously someone preferring a more accurate speaker in terms of frequency response would want to look elsewhere. Write comment
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
